Chukwudi Nweje
Former Speaker Pro Tempore, Anambra State House of Assembly, Ben Chuks Nwosu, has decried the absence of political structures in Southern Nigeria. He kicked against divisive politics in the country and challenged the citizens to rise above religious and ethnic sentiments and put the big picture of Nigeria first. He also spoke on the 2023 presidency and other national issues.
Nigeria just celebrated 59 years of independence; how well do you think we have fared as a country?
The fact that we have remained one united country in the face of lopsided beneficial interests, when I say lopsided interests, I mean that there should be natural justice, equity and good conscience in the way the country is run by whoever is running it, at the centre as well as at the states level and traditional institutions. Has there been inclusiveness in an equitable way? The answer is no. Why has it not been so? Possible it is greed, possibly it is bad politics by the victims, because you cannot sit back and complain about marginalisation and maltreatment. You have to apply the Fabián tactic, and the Fabián tactic as enunciated is for you to engage your traducer and try to negotiate something better than what he intended to unleash on you. Politics is about agreeing to disagree and agreeing to agree. You cannot seclude yourself in one geo-political area and complain. It will just amount to lamentations in the desert, that will mean that those who are benefiting will continue to benefit and those losing out will continue to lose. In political negotiation, you have to give everybody the confidence to trust you, and once you have developed that background of trust, there will be benefits both ways and the nation-building will continue.
I will say the country, Nigeria has done well, they have stayed together for 59 years. The various people and zones that make up Nigeria may not have much to talk about; there is environmental degradation in the South-South region and massive insecurity and loss of lives and property in the North East. The economy is not doing as well as it should, the average Nigerian is not happy, the middle-class has practically been wiped out, but then a country goes through challenges in nation-building. But, the most admirable achievement is that in the face of discordant ethnic tunes, in the face of conflict of interests and the massive number of people, different religions, different beliefs, we have managed to remain together. It is to an extent, an achievement.
Why have the various ethnic nationalities in Nigeria not bonded together as one after 59 years of independence?
The way to answer this question is to ask a rhetoric question. Why would somebody who has an advantage give it up? For instance, we say a particular ethnic group, the Hausa Fulani is taking advantage and yet we say they are in minority, it means they have a peculiar political approach to Nigeria, which other ethnic groups either don’t have or are afraid to confront. It means that your majority status is of no effect while their minority status is of effect. If something is superior to you, you study it to find out how it works. I think we have more noisemakers than effective people in Nigeria in negotiating for power. Has it always been like this in Nigeria? What went wrong, can we address those things that went wrong? We have had national conferences and those national conferences were agreements reached on how we can have a better nation, have a better union and generate better trust and therefore put our energies together to move this country forward to reach its potential as the largest on the face of the earth. Why have we failed to implement those agreements? It is because those we describe as minority have the skills of retraining their leadership and advantages to the detriment of the majority that are indolent. We have to sit down and think of a better way of getting things done in this country. Complaints don’t go far, we have to effectively engage the people, but do we have what it takes to do that? Check out the institutions of government, do we have what it takes to engage in youthful discussion? We have to put these things in place and from there we can move ahead. Everything is at the centre, power and economic largess and we are not at the centre, so how are we likely to succeed? We must find a way of re-engineering our engagement equation in this country because nobody in an advantageous position readily gives it away.
How can we re-engineer the engagement equation since those in advantageous position will not readily give it up?
How come certain institutions in the grip of the people we complain about have effective ways of making Nigeria give them what they want through their Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and so on? Why are the institutions of other zones viewed as ineffective? These other institutions have to look at their modus operandi. Are there things those institutions have that Nigerians cannot do without? Do you have equal and opposite things they can also project and people will listen to you? When a child is mummuring a cry, nobody will listen to him, but when the child starts wailing, everybody will want to find out what is wrong with him. Are you in the civil service, the army and the Air Force? Are you in the banking industry and the academia? In the National Assembly, what is the equation? Are you in the position to effect a change as a zone? Why don’t we go to the national conference document that enunciated how these things can be rearranged? Why can’t the disadvantaged zones like the North Central, South East, South-South and South West that are not happy with the current equation insist on the implementation of the national conference document?
But there are those uncomfortable with that national conference report…
What do you mean? Do you use mere teeth to remove grass from your farmland? There are ways and means in politics and in the institutions of government. Do the North Central, South East, South-South and South West have a common front? Has the common English cliché, divided we fall, united we stand, been overtaken by events? They should find a common ground and make a common demand and they will get it.
They have the Southern, Middle Belt Leaders Forum?
It is unfortunate. You have to look at the leadership of that forum. Are they people who want to make a change or people who just gather? How come the institutions belonging to the group you are complaining against are more effective than yours? Look at their modus and see whether you can make certain changes. You have to think deeper. Does the solution lie in agitation? No, does it lie in separatism? No. It lies in superior negotiation. The United States was not 50 states at the beginning, it came about through negotiation. Don’t forget that Northern Ireland and Britain are still negotiating. There is no reason to call for a fight you are not in a position to win. You have to think of what to do and how to do it in a decisive way. I believe that the national conference report if implemented will go a long way in alleviating the difficulties challenging the unity and progress of this country. They are refusing to implement it is because it has something that will change the status quo, which they don’t want.
Why is it difficult for Nigerians to forge a common front against political leadership?
This country is prepared on ethnic, religious and bigoted principles. Look at what is happening in Hong Kong, it has been on since June every Saturday, the people are agitating for something. But I tell you that if you tell Nigerians to come out now, they will read ethnic, religious and other sentiments into it. Nigerians must overcome these divisions of religion, language and cultural differences. We must be able to put the big picture of Nigeria first before any other division. Otherwise, if you go on the streets now to protest, they will say Christians are protesting against Islam or that the North wants to Islamise Nigeria. All these things are baseless. We are leaving the feed and taking the chaff.
The agitation for 2023 presidency is on, what are the chances of the South East?
If you don’t get your politics right, those who are currently beneficiaries will overrun the rest. If we are saying that it is the turn of the South, that all political parties should look for candidates from the South, will they agree? What are the political structures in the South East, are they strong enough? Go into the leading parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who is the South East leader? Look at the elements that create unity superiority in politics; if you for instance announce now that there will be continuous registration of voters, in the North West, I can assure you that people will come out, do that in the South, people will not come out. On Election Day, how many people from the South participate? How many people from the South can locate their voter’s card? You have almost 2.7 million registered voters in Anambra State for instance, after every election, the number that vote is always at 300,000 to 400,000; where are the rest, and they are talking about marginalisation? People talk loudest with their voters’ card. At election, it will only be those who voted and those that did not vote and a winner will emerge from those that voted.
The South West is also warming up for the presidency. What do you think?
The South West is already ahead of us politically. You are talking about a zone that is moving to put themselves in the forefront of being considered for presidency in 2023 and they are playing it. They have already passed the stage of whether it is their turn or not, they are talking about who will go; they have appropriated their turn to themselves. We are talking about what ought to be, what is likely and what is. We must put our acts together; we are talking about equity, good conscience and justice.